Leicester City vs Manchester United - 5 Key Talking Points

Score: Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United

Goals: Jamie Vardy 27' (expertly finished off superb Leicester counter, assisted by Riyad Mahrez), Juan Mata 40' (sublime finish in a tightly packed Leicester penalty box), Juan Mata 60' (Lovely whipped free-kick from 20 yards out), Harry Maguire (poacher's finish at the far post off Albrighton's superbly whipped in ball)

Ten-men Leicester City fought back from 2-1 down to drag an equaliser out of nothing after substitute Daniel Amartey seemed to have handicapped them with a sending off that saw him stay on the field for a grand total of sixteen minutes and nine seconds... and here are the main talking points from a game that has surely gift-wrapped Manchester City this season's Premier League trophy:

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#5 Manchester United pay for their lackadaisical finishing

It's not the sheer amount of chances that Messrs. Lingard, Martial, and Rashford wasted that will give Jose Mourinho headaches, it's the unbelievable casualness of it all. All three of them were the recipients of great build-up play from Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba but they went about the job of finishing as if they were 5-0 up.

As it turns out, they really weren't... and Harry Maguire made his tormentors at the other end pay for the incredibly lackadaisical finishing.

Sure, the blame will go to the defence for allowing Maguire to walk into the six-yard box unattended at the end (why did Smalling have to cover the far post when he could barely stand up straight?) but it ought to lie squarely on the forwards for their brazen lack of ruthlessness up top.

At the end of the day, all that matters is this:

13 - Man City will be 13 points clear of Man Utd on Christmas Day – the biggest points gap between first and second place on Dec 25th in English top-flight history. Chasm. pic.twitter.com/oqyg4GEslp

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 23, 2017

#4 The Foxes are the best of the rest under Claude Puel

Harry Maguire prods the ball home against a hapless De Gea

Jamie Vardy has now scored 50 goals in the Premier League and a solid 42%, or 21, have come against top-6 sides.

The Inimitable Englishman encapsulates everything the Foxes are about - as the TV reporter interviewing Harry Maguire pointed out, they really do live up to the slogan that hangs over their tunnel, 'The Foxes Never Quit'.

Under Claude Puel they have regained a measure of the magic that led them on their fairytale run to glory just a couple of years previously and it's safe to say the former Southampton boss has turned the Foxes into the most entertaining, and most effective, of the teams outside the big 6.

#3 Wilfried Ndidi and Vicente Iborra are a promising partnership

Vicente Iborra and Victor Lindelof go head to head

A large part of Leicester's great success that season stemmed from their ability to play just two central midfielders and compete with everyone else who normally field three and while the loss of N'Golo Kante greatly negated that last season, the budding partnership between ex-Sevilla man Vicente Iborra and the young Nigerian Wilfried Ndidi has given the King Power - and Puel - reason to believe they are onto something good here.

While the game was 11 v 11, they always looked like they were up for it - and stood toe-to-toe, and at times bettered, the might of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in the middle of the park... overall Ndidi was arguably the Foxes best player on the night, though it will be Maguire - and Vardy - who will steal the headlines

#2 Lukaku and Lingard are linking up superbly

Lukaku celebrates Mata's goal with his usual enthusiasm

Romelu Lukaku has been getting a lot of stick for his recent performances, but this might just have been his best performance, overall, in a United shirt without scoring a goal. His positioning was superb, his link-up play was sublime - the partnership with Jesse Lingard particularly looks like it's coming along very nicely indeed - he was selfless and played some incredible balls into the feet of Lingard and Martial... and he really ought to have gone home with at least two assists to his name.

As it is, the noose of not-scoring will continue to hang over his head and one can only hope that United's finishing improves over the festive period. Till then, let's all just give big Romelu Lukaku a break, eh?

Poor sod.

#1 Jose Mourinho needs to get the hairdryer out

A laugh of disbelief? Looks like Jose Mourinho can't quite believe what he is witnessing

Oh God, the casualness. I have touched upon this earlier, but I honestly feel I haven't done justice to the sheer wastefulness of United's front-men (bar Lukaku) in this game.

United's players let their manager down for the second game running - this one far important than the Carabao Cup tie in the larger context - and it will take all of Jose Mourinho's considerable talent to get this bunch to keep at it till the final stretch this season.

If anything, he'd do great to pull a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson's book and throw the goddamn hairdryer at a bunch of players that are suddenly, inexplicably, taking it all too easy.

There's great potential in this United team - and Mourinho is the right man to realise it - but he needs his players to start helping him out... and he needs them to do it right now.